2020 will be looked back on as a perplexing year for television as many series incorporate the events of the COVID-19 pandemic into storylines to contrasting degrees of success. Most of these efforts have been very awkward and manage to distract from what’s actually important in these shows. It’s bittersweet that Shameless’ final season is so heavily influenced by the current changes in the world, but it also oddly feels appropriate.
Shameless has constantly been interested in the disenfranchised and the people that have been not only ignored, but also consciously erased from society. This season’s focus on COVID may hit too close to home for some in what’s supposed to be escapist entertainment, but it’d honestly feel disingenuous if it weren’t touched on in Shameless. It also only exacerbates the existing stresses that were present for these characters and they’d reach these places even without the presence of a pandemic, it just might have taken longer.
Shameless is typically at its best when the Gallaghers are all together and last season’s finale embraced that energy. The circumstances around the pandemic could naturally produce opportunities for this cast to be around each other, but “This is Chicago!” takes the opposite approach. The entire cast is basically segregated to their own islands as they handle their individual stresses. The premiere feels a little chaotic as it bounces around from one socially distanced storyline to another. Despite how most of the Gallaghers still live in the same house, there’s barely any overlap between the characters. The one exception is the episode’s ending, but that only accentuates how much more alive the series is when everyone’s together.
It may also seem a little pedantic to complain over Fiona after she’s left the series, but considering this premiere has baked COVID into its premise it wouldn’t have been ridiculous for some Gallagher to at least reference how she’s been doing during all of this. Just a snide aside about how she didn’t return to Chicago would have sufficed. Shameless has always made family its priority. During a time when many families have been strained, either through proximity or distance, it doesn’t seem unreasonable to expect some update on Fiona. Maybe she’ll get mentioned later in the season.
“This is Chicago!” jumps all over the place with its many disparate storylines, but they all do become unified in the sense that everyone’s actions are a response to how COVID has affected different pillars of Chicago. Shameless likes to maintain a broad tone, but it’s still often guilty of manipulative melodrama and leaving its characters in pain. Last season’s finale has Ian and Mickey at their absolute happiest, but now that luster has already worn off. Their biggest issue is that Mickey doesn’t understand how to think as a unit or put an equal amount into their marriage as Ian, which feels appropriate for their characters. However, it’s also interesting to see how Shameless depicts the effects of the pandemic on a newlywed couple and how it can suck out that honeymoon phase.
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December 07, 2020 at 09:59AM
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Shameless Season 11 Episode 1 Review: This is Chicago! - Den of Geek
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